I was preparing a lengthy post on the Donald Trump phenomenon when a news item caught my attention, one that I'm not sure why the Catholic press hasn't seemed to pick up on yet. Last Thursday (December 10) the Vatican and a group of Orthodox rabbis releases separate but complementarity statements affirming, in essence, that Christians and Jews are partners in the mission of universal salvation. We are not adversaries, the statement from the rabbis affirms, but partners with significant theological differences I haven't browsed the Catholic blogosphere as of this morning, but Friday and Saturday I didn't see any mention of it in the sites I normally read. As far as I'm concerned, these statements, especially the one coming out of the Orthodox Jewish community, represent ecumenical dynamite. Some might quarrel over the Church's continued stance that no evangelical initiative should target the Jews (Roy Shoeman, a Catholic convert from Judaism, has been particularly critical of this stance in the past), but in the light of history, especially in the last century, it's understandable the Church wants to take a moderate path toward reconciliation.
And reconciliation is what we should be praying and working for. As a Catholic I do believe that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and the Son of God. We who believe this shouldn't be afraid to profess it. At the same time I think our Jewish brothers and sisters already know that this is what we believe, so there's no need to pound the point home. I agree with Shoeman that if we truly believe that Jesus has the words of everlasting life, and is the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises, we should want to share the Good News and encourage God's Chosen People from the beginning to accept it. But I, for one, can't ignore that there has been an ugly history of persecutions, pogroms and forced conversions, not to mention the blood libel, that have poisoned the well between us. Lets detoxify the waters now so that we may drink together from the stream of understanding and mutual respect God offers us. Maybe this is God's first step on a path toward the eventual reconciliation of our two communities.
If you've noticed, I haven't used the word conversion when talking about my hope for the future of Jewish - Christian relations. I think more in terms of reconciliation. The Christian community was a part of the Jewish community in the First Century until our differences proved to great to maintain unity. My prayer is that we are united again. When this happens, and I do believe it will someday, both Jews and Christians will regain spiritual gifts that were lost when the Family of God split apart. For our part, we will regain a deeper appreciation for the Divine Name, which we tend the throw around rather loosely. I'm sure I could think of other things if I reflect upon it further, but this deep reverence for the Name that our Jewish brothers and sister observe jumps out at me right away.
But this is going to happen in God's time, not ours, and in the way He sees fit. For now let us walk together as partners, sharing and growing closer and stronger in our devotion to the One True God.
As for the post on Trump, Victor Davis Hanson's piece in National Review Online gets at the heart of what I'm thinking, though mine is a less partisan analysis (someone publishing your point of view first-the writer's worst nightmare). I think I still have enough original to say that I'll finish the piece and get it uploaded soon.
2 comments:
So finally we see the real aim of the new evangelization.....not to evangelize at all.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in one of his last speeches talked about not forgetting the mission.....
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/3466/pope_emeritus_benedict_xvi_dialogue_cannot_substitute_for_mission.aspx
"The risen Lord instructed his apostles, and through them his disciples in all ages, to take his word to the ends of the earth and to make disciples of all people," retired Pope Benedict wrote. "'But does that still apply?' many inside and outside the church ask themselves today. 'Is mission still something for today? Would it not be more appropriate to meet in dialogue among religions and serve together the cause of world peace?' The counter-question is: 'Can dialogue substitute for mission?'
"In fact, many today think religions should respect each other and, in their dialogue, become a common force for peace. According to this way of thinking, it is usually taken for granted that different religions are variants of one and the same reality," the retired pope wrote. "The question of truth, that which originally motivated Christians more than any other, is here put inside parentheses. It is assumed that the authentic truth about God is in the last analysis unreachable and that at best one can represent the ineffable with a variety of symbols. This renunciation of truth seems realistic and useful for peace among religions in the world.
"It is nevertheless lethal to faith. In fact, faith loses its binding character and its seriousness, everything is reduced to interchangeable symbols, capable of referring only distantly to the inaccessible mystery of the divine," he wrote.
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